Microbial Oil Emulsion Reduction via Broth Washing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for obtaining polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) from microbial cells face challenges such as long oil recovery times, high processing costs, and reduced efficiency due to the formation of thick emulsions during cell lysis.
Innovation Solution
A process involving dilution of the fermentation broth with water, separation of cells, lysis to release microbial oil, demulsification to break emulsions, and subsequent oil separation, significantly reduces emulsion formation and enhances oil recovery efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If solvent-free method is used to avoid organic solvents, then environmental safety is improved, but emulsion formation increases causing longer processing time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by adjusting the pH of the fermentation broth to an acidic range (pH 2-4) before cell lysis. This pre-adjustment prevents emulsion formation during subsequent processing steps, thereby reducing oil recovery time while maintaining the solvent-free advantage. The pH adjustment is performed in advance to modify the chemical environment before the harmful emulsion formation occurs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes parameter changes by modifying the pH parameter of the fermentation broth to resolve the contradiction. By changing the pH from neutral to acidic (pH 2-4), the chemical properties of the system are altered to prevent emulsion stabilization, thus reducing processing time while maintaining environmental safety of the solvent-free method.
2Productivity
If emulsion is broken using chemical reagents and multiple steps, then separation efficiency is improved, but processing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by adjusting pH to acidic conditions before cell lysis and emulsion formation. This pre-treatment prevents emulsion stabilization, making separation easier and reducing the need for multiple costly processing steps while maintaining high separation efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts or removes the problematic碱性 components by adjusting pH to acidic conditions, thereby eliminating the need for complex demulsification processes. This simplifies the manufacturing process and reduces costs while maintaining effective oil separation.
3Quantity of substance
If cell walls are disrupted to release oil, then oil extraction yield is improved, but emulsion formation increases reducing extraction efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by adjusting pH to acidic conditions (pH 2-4) before cell disruption. This parameter modification ensures that when cell walls are broken and oil is released (improving extraction yield), the acidic environment prevents emulsion formation, thereby maintaining high extraction efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary pH adjustment before cell wall disruption. This pre-action ensures that the chemical environment is optimized to prevent emulsion formation during the subsequent mechanical disruption process, allowing full oil release without the penalty of emulsion-related efficiency losses.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The proposed process effectively reduces emulsion formation, shortens oil recovery times, decreases processing costs, and improves the yield and quality of PUFA-containing oil.
Implementation Method 1
diluting the fermentation broth with at least 1× amount of water
Implementation Method 2
separating the cells from the fermentation broth
Implementation Method 3
releasing the PUFA containing oil into the fermentation medium in which the cells were grown by using mechanical force (e.g., homogenization)
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein are processes for reducing or eliminating emulsion during the process of obtaining a microbial oil comprising one or more polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) from one or more microbial cells by washing the fermentation broth with at least 1× amount of water. Further disclosed herein is microbial oil comprising one or more PUFAs that is recovered from microbial cells by at least one process described herein.